Book Review: Learning to Think by Tracy King
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/05/book-review-learning-to-think-by-tracy-king/
What does it mean to write an autobiography?
For most people, their autobiography is a series of well-worn stories that they've told themselves. I remember reading Peter Mandelson's autobiography and being staggered at how he won every argument he ever had and was proved completely right by history. I'm sure you've read a dozen autobiographies where the subject has gleefully recounted something which sounds true, but with no fact checking.
Tracy King's autobiography is different. There is a story that she has told herself about her father's death. The event is a pivotal point in the life of her and her family. Their world is shattered by the tragedy and the events surround it become mythologised. Rather than just retelling the story, she asks the important question - is this true?
That's what Learning To Think is about.
Do you have the courage to revisit a distressing moment from your past and interrogate it? We all have totemic stories about our history but very few of us go back to check whether our memories are accurate. I hesitate to describe the revelations as a "plot-twist", because this is real life, but it is astounding.
The writing is beautiful and portentous. It also spends a fair amount of time seeking to understand why people (like the author) get drawn to religion, mysticism, and conspiracy theories:
Solving problems you’ve invented is a good facsimile of empowerment when you’ve never had the real thing.
It would be tempting to lump this in with the "misery memoir" genre - but I think it is something else. It isn't about revelling in the pain and inviting the reader to share it, instead it is a hopeful look at how the truth sets us free. It is bleakly hilarious at times with its blunt assessment of some shocking events.
I sometimes worry that science and "new rationalism" is a cult. It can attract people who are desperate for answers and want to surrender to a system which will teach them the secret truths of the world. But, as this book points out, rationality gives us the power to say "but I could be wrong".
Science should teach us to be humble. Not humble in front of a god; humble in front of our own fallibilities and vulnerabilities.
This is a thought-provoking and wonderful book.
